Salem Lutheran is a member church of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, a group that claims 1,300 congregations and 400,000 members in the U.S. and Canada.

What could WELS possibly believe, according to its own website, that's too out there even for Michele Bachmann?

"WELS does hold to the historic Lutheran position that the Roman Catholic papacy fits the biblical characteristics of the Antichrist."

Oh. That. To the Bachmanns' credit, it was originally stated that they hadn't attended the church in two years -- though different reports have cut that number down to one year.

Michele McGaughey

They are filled with joy... and fear of the pope.

​But Michele Bachmann listed the church affiliation on her official congressional campaign website -- it has since been purged for the presidential run -- and Marcus Bachmann's Bachmann & Associates Clinic appears on Salem Lutheran's site under "Confidential Counseling," by which they mean, "he'll help you get less gay."

WELS's website statement of belief is in direct response to speculation about the Bachmanns leaving the church, and the synod's extremist views on an old white man who lives in Rome.

Recent news reports have thrust the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) into the middle of a presidential campaign. What has catapulted this relatively small Lutheran church body into the media spotlight is the fact that, until recently, presidential candidate Michele Bachmann had held membership in a WELS congregation.

As often happens in controversies both religious and political, people tend to view issues through the prism of their individual perspectives and beliefs. That often results in obscured facts and distortions of the truth. The discussion of the WELS position on the Antichrist is a perfect example of this.

With 390,000 members, WELS is the third largest of the Lutheran churches in the United States. It is often described, properly so, as the "most theologically conservative" of the three.

WELS does hold to the historic Lutheran position that the Roman Catholic papacy fits the biblical characteristics of the Antichrist. We do this without reservation and with no apologies. We believe that our doctrines cannot be tempered by political correctness or modified to align them with changing culture or public opinion.

That clears everything up. No one could possibly have any further questions about this matter after reading that careful, thorough statement. Except to ask, maybe, what the hell are they talking about?

For those people who don't follow 500-year-old conspiracies, this idea goes back to the days of Martin Luther, who really couldn't stand the Roman Catholic Church, especially the pope. So he tacked up his list of grievances on a church door, and -- for a handy visual aid -- convinced his friend Lucas Cranach the Elder to depict the pope as the Antichrist, including one image with the pope taking taxes from his subjects.

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Well, if Bachmann wasn't sure about the pope before she saw this primitive woodcut, she had to be afterward. Just look at that evil little dog in the corner, and all those people putting potato chips on a table. This is definitely the Antichrist, and surely all popes after him have inherited that title.

Any questions, Sean?

​WELS's statement goes on to mention Bachmann specifically in an attempt to exonerate her from this belief. Surely, she's thrilled her name would come up at the end of all this.

Media reports have portrayed the WELS position on the Antichrist to be a prominent or even signature doctrine in our church. Certainly we do not deny this teaching or attempt to hide it. At the same time, it is not a topic of daily discussion or a regular theme in Sunday sermons. Nor is this a view peculiar to WELS; it has been the historic position of the Lutheran church for almost 500 years--a position still held by confessional Lutheran church bodies around the world.

Michele Bachmann is no longer a member of our church, and we are not in any position to comment on her current religious views. But we can say that her previous membership in our church does not make her guilty of being an "anti-Catholic bigot." To accuse her--or her former church--of that is patently unfair and wrong.

It's probably time someone ask Michele about this whole thing. Maybe someone like, oh, just anyone at random... Sean Hannity? Bill O'Reilly? Michelle Malkin? Any of the other practicing Catholics who regularly appear on Fox News and rush to Bachmann's rescue when her mouth gets her in trouble?

There are 69 million Catholics in the United States, and Michele Bachmann needs to have a chat with them.

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By the way, the picture you posted shows almost no evidence that believers use to come to the conclusions that they have regarding this subject. The 3 tiered crown is the only thing I can see in the picture. Remember this, unless you have complete understanding of the Bible (Daniel, Jeremiah, Revelations and John) and you have complete faith in what it is being foretold, all the speculation as to "who" the Anti-Christ will be absurd. The evidence in the Bible does make the Pope look highly suspect. Make jokes if you want. That's what the great deceivers wants you to do. LOL.

The writer here does wonders at making fun of some simple facts that he/she hasn't taken enough time to refute. Whether the Pope is or is not the Anti-Christ, one should know that the Bible teaches that Satan is the father of deception. Many of my strong Christian friends believe the Anti-Christ is yet to be revealed. Do you really think it's going to be that easy to unmask something that has perplexed society since the beginning. I suggest you do more research instead of using your John Stewart Maher, comedy approach to relay your profound opinions. Bachmann did well to leave the church if she wants to stand a chance at making it to the presidency or beyond. Her fear shows that she has some redemption to reconcile.

This is a very biased and one-sided story, although I wouldn’t consider City Pages a legitimate news source, it does act as an interesting launching point for wanting to know more about a topic. The WELS synod website has pages explaining the history behind this statement, and an explanation. Basically the statement stemmed from the Pope declaring (thousands of years ago) that he was THE pathway between believers and God; he was claiming to be Christ-like. The Church; therefore, determined him to be an Anti-Christ. Word of advice: News sources are a great way to start getting information on what's going on, but they all sensationalize stories to increase their audience. The best way to get all the facts is to research topics using multiple sources and figure out what rings true to you.

Pretty sensationalized story here. You even go so far as to nearly defend the pope as "an old white man who lives in Rome," like the Lutherans are being mean to him or something. Bachmann is truly inhuman levels of insane, but digging into archaic Christian denominational differences that no one pays attentions to seems like quite a stretch. If your point is that this religious group believes some crazy things, you might as well start an encycolopedia on all the crazy stuff spelled out in all the crazy books of all the crazy belief systems in the world. I'm more interested in Bachmann's actual historical understanding of these religious traits, because I guarantee she knows as much about religious history as she does about American. I know she's an insult to reasonable people everywhere, but maybe you guys at CP should give the Bachmann stuff a rest until some real controversy pops up.

"The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing 'God Bless America.' No, no, no, God damn America, that's in the Bible for killing innocent people. God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme."